Chapter One:
The sun filtered in through the bright floor to ceiling windows, illuminating all the patrons in the coffee shop as it cracked and bounced off the tables. I sat at a corner table next to a window, sipping my skinny latte and reading a month old Cosmopolitan. I flipped through the pages with little interest, I didn't stop in for the reading material. I wanted a sip of good coffee, and I suppose I was killing time after my hair appointment because I didn't want to immediately go home to an empty house.
My sunglasses shaded my eyes from both the light and any curious onlookers. I was safe.
The door chime beeped as yet another patron entered the shop. The noise barely registered because I had heard the noise four times since sitting down, so I paid it little mind and continued to flip through the colorful pages. As I read about man behavior complaints, I heard the most beautiful laugh, it was deep and full, an unrestrained sound of happiness. I turned my head to see the person responsible for the laugh, and my eyes encountered the most beautiful specimen of the female form.
Deep brown eyes, the color of dark chocolate met my gaze. My breath escaped me as I saw warmth reflected back at me through her glance. Pressure built in my chest and I finally gasped for breath, ducking my head as I opened my mouth to inhale more air. As the tightness inside eased, I glanced up. She had turned away from me, and was walking away from the table of people she chatted with just a moment before. A table of people whom made her laugh so deeply.
As she stood at the counter, placing her order, I secretly watched her. The corners of her eyes crinkled as she smiled at the barista. Fear at being caught in my observing, caused me to focus on my magazine more. I flipped through several pages, gazing without interest and listening to her voice as she paid for her coffee and left a tip.
A shadow fell over my magazine. I gazed up, taking a deep breath and getting ready to ask my shadow causer to please move, then exhaled in a rush as those dark brown eyes focused on me.
"Hello, I couldn't help but notice you sitting over here by yourself. Do you mind if I join you?" she husked in a deep alto, raspy and full of promise. Her voice caused my heart to accelerate to an abnormal speed.
"I…Uh..No," I stuttered. My throat felt twice its size and I couldn't take a deep breath. I grabbed my mug and took a big drink as I pointed to the spare chair, an ascent for her to have a seat.
She thrust out her hand. I glanced at it through my sunglasses, taking note of her short and clean nails. "I'm Jane Rizzoli."
Without thinking, I reached and grabbed her hand, giving it a brief shake. "Maura Isles." I normally didn't shake hands with strangers, but something about this woman put me at ease. "Errm. Please have a seat."
"Don't mind if I do," she smiled as she sat down and stretched out her long legs under the table, being careful to avoid bumping my shins. "So Maura Isles, what are you doing sitting in here on such a beautiful day?" She sipped her iced coffee as she watched me.
I removed my sunglasses, wincing at the bright light as I met her gaze, then said, "I was…just relaxing. I came downtown for a hair appointment," I pointed around the shop. "Then I wanted some coffee."
"Yes, they have the best coffee here. The finest in Boston." She took another healthy drink and I watched her throat moving as she swallowed. "I haven't seen you here before. Are you new to the area?"
"This is my first time here. I moved to Boston last month." I sat back and focused on her mouth as she wrapped her lips around her straw.
Oh, such perfect, moist lips. My body warmed as my blood flushed throughout my body.
"You'll come to love Boston. It grows on you." She flashed me a grin full of white teeth. "And I should know, I was born here." She took a sip of her drink then said, "so what do you do?"
My palms started to sweat as my body reacted to my phobia. I was afraid to tell people what I did for a living because they usually ran away or asked imposing questions out of curiosity. "I'm a Doctor."
"What kind? I know a few Doctors, and whew, they are such assholes." She rolled her eyes, waving her hand as she talked. I noticed as she waved that her fingers were perfectly proportioned to her body.
I stared at the table, ducking my head. "A Medical Examiner," I muttered, then turned my head to look out the window. For some reason, I couldn't bear to see her reaction.
She gasped. "Ha. You're THE MAURA ISLES?" Then she did the unexpected, and laughed her deep belly laugh. I looked at her, not believing that she, a stranger, was laughing at me.
"What?"
"Nothing," she giggled.
I'd had enough and reached out to grab her hand then squeezed. "What Jane? How do you know about me?"
"I'm sorry. Um Detective Frost, my partner, told me you stepped on his toe when he heaved his lunch last week during an autopsy. I didn't know you so it wasn't that funny, and now it is. Face to the name and story." She shrugged, but her lips stayed lifted in a smile.
"I told him not to watch but he didn't listen," I murmured, smiling back at this funny woman sitting at my table.
"Yeah, he never does. Try working with him." She glanced at her watch as she finished her coffee with a few loud slurps. I wanted to cringe at the sound, but I just couldn't. I didn't want to criticize this friendly woman even though I was itching to do so.
"Hey, are you busy for dinner? I'm starving." And to prove her point, her stomach growled loudly. I smiled as she looked down sheepishly. "Sorry. Like I said, starving," she said.
"I'm not busy." She stood up from her chair, walking over to toss her empty cup into the trash then sauntered back to stand beside me, gazing down at me.
"So, yes to dinner? Because I have been craving seafood all day and you look like a seafood type of gal."
I nodded eagerly, secretly excited for the play-date with my new colleague. "How do you discern what type of food I prefer based on my appearance?" I asked as I looked down at my discarded magazine, my empty coffee mug and my dress and shoes. I looked the same as a normal workday even though it was late Friday afternoon and I tended to look nicer on the weekends. I stood and gazed up into her twinkling eyes.
"Just do. It'd take too long to explain." She turned on her heel and said over her shoulder, "come on Doc."
"Has anyone ever told you how impatient you are?" I sprinted behind her as she marched out the door to the coffee shop, then walking swiftly down the sidewalk. "Slow down Jane," I shouted, and followed her as a quick pace, balancing on my high heels to avoid a fall. She kept walking, but slowed down as she headed toward the Police Cruiser parked up the block. I recognized the standard issue dark blue sedan.
A few steps from the car, she stopped and turned to watch me walk toward her. She smiled at me as our eyes met.
"Oh," I squealed as I stumbled, losing my balanced walk and almost falling down.
"Are you okay Maura?" she stood just in front of me, obviously having moved quickly toward me to catch me before I hit the sidewalk.
I recovered quickly then smoothed my dress down as I sauntered forward. "I'm okay. But thank you for almost catching me."
"Um, thank you for almost falling." She fidgeted from foot-to-foot as she watched me approach. "I'm driving by the way."
"That's fine. It's hard to drive in these heels." I stared down at my light blue heels then up at her eyes. She had the perfect tone of brown Irises. I couldn't help looking into them.
She grabbed my elbow and pulled me close to the car then opened the door. "Here you go," she husked as she held out her hand, presumably to help me get in her car without falling down.
I smiled and I grabbed her hand. "Thank you." I eased down into her car. As I clicked the seat belt shut, I noticed all the fast food wrappers and donut bags littering the floor of the backseat.
She jumped in the driver's seat, slammed the door shut, then started the car, and avoided my eyes. She didn't meet my gaze again until she pulled the car into traffic at the next block when we reached a stop sign. "So, seafood okay?"
"It's fine." I looked at the leftover boxes then said, "do you spend a lot of time in this car? Because those food sacks contain penicillin by now…probably."
"I share the car with my partner. The puker… But yes, we do spend time in this car when we go and be detectives. It's not a nine-to-five job."
I reached out and touched her wrist as she drove. "I didn't mean to upset you." She nodded then stared down at my fingers, wrapped tight around her slim wrist. I let go of her warm skin even though I didn't want to. I could spend a few hours just touching her soft skin, it was so warm and perfect beneath mine.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. "Where are we going to eat?"
"I'm craving Long John Silvers. Hmm those hushpuppies," she moaned as she glanced into her rearview mirror, then made a turn off the busy street.
"Seriously? That's about the dietary equivalent of eating a can of lard," I commented, trying to distract myself from the effects her moan had on my nervous system.
"Are you saying you don't want to go. I'm going there and you're welcome to come with." Her eyes faced forward, watching the road, then she glanced over at me with a smile on her lips.
"I'll come. Somebody will have to resuscitate you when you have a heart attack."
"Haha. I didn't know you were a comedian too Doc. The smashing of Frost's toe though…pretty good." She pulled the car into the restaurant and put the car into park. Then those brown eyes focused on me again.
"I'll try your hushpuppies Detective if you come out to dinner with me tomorrow." I smiled at her as I unfastened my seat belt, not quite believing that I agreed to come here. The grease alone will ruin my outfit in minutes. But as I kept gazing into those eyes, I knew I'd do whatever she asked. I wanted her to like me.
"Okay, but you're buying tomorrow. I'll buy today." She jumped out of the car, shutting the door with a bang. I stayed in my seat as I watched her slide across the hood to reach my side then she opened my door and held her hand out for me. I gazed up and took her hand, standing up and holding onto her strong fingers in a tight grip. My knees felt wobbly and weak.
Our eyes locked.
She smiled again with her perfect lips, her perfect teeth showing in the blinding sunlight.
I smiled back at her and let her lead me slowly into the restaurant while she told me the benefits of hushpuppies.
Chapter Two:
"I ate hushpuppies today Bass." I wiggled on my stool to get more comfortable as I looked down at my tortoise, watching him eat from his dish. He ate uninterrupted, chomping down on his fruit, so I pretended that he knew what I was saying. That's the wonderful thing about having a tortoise for a pet, he can't run away from me when I tell him about my day, no matter how unpleasant it is. I took a sip from my wine, twirling the liquid around my tongue to appreciate the smoky blueberry undertones of the Merlot.
"Jane Rizzoli… such a nice name and it fits her. Such a strong name for a strong woman. Hmm, makes me think of Calamity Jane. You know Bass, the cowgirl outlaw from the Wild West." Bass continued to eat as I dreamed of my new friend with a six-shooter strapped to her waist, and cowboy boots on her feet complete with jangling spurs.
"I wonder if she would ride a horse like she drives her car? I have never been so thankful to set foot on solid ground as I was when she dropped me back at the coffee shop to retrieve my car." I drained the last of the wine in a large sip, then hopped off the stool with a plop. My kitchen was quiet. Far too quiet for my liking, but after several weeks in my new house, I had become used to the stillness of the environment.
Rinsing out my glass, I set it in the dishwashing rack, then turned off the lights on my way out of the kitchen to head to bed. I wasn't very sleepy, but I didn't want to stay in my kitchen talking to my unresponsive tortoise. I suddenly saw myself ten years down the road still sitting in my kitchen, in my otherwise empty house, and talking to Bass about my day. The image made me uncomfortable.
I stepped into my library to get a different book to read before bed. When I moved into my house, the first room I unpacked and organized was the library. I knew it would be the first room I would use the most with the exception of the bedroom and the bathroom. I read title after title of the romance section, but I could find none appealing. Then I moved to the mystery section, and a few caught my eye, being old favorites, but I didn't feel like an enthralling mystery tonight.
"How pathetic," I muttered as I stepped back away from the stack of shelves.
As I turned, a dark red book cover with a lasso on the top of the spine caught my eye. I picked it up, not bothering to look at the cover. I had already chosen it without any difficult decisions, so standing and pondering whether or not to read it would be a waste of my time.
And I obviously wanted to read a western.
With my entertainment for the evening decided, I walked down the hallway to my bedroom, watching the carpet squish under my feet as I stepped, and thinking about my far too many things that I shouldn't, the one object that kept coming to mind being the deep brown depths of Janes' eyes. The one thing I appreciated most about my new house was the plush carpeting throughout the entire house, the only place not carpeted being the front and garage entryways. And I had placed rugs over the ceramic tiles, making sure the carpet squares came with rubber grippers on the bottom, foreseeing one of my soon to be friends visiting and falling down because of a slippery rug.
I clapped my hands to turn on my bedroom light as I entered the room, my bedspread already turned down from earlier this morning. I left it down so it would appear more inviting to me at the end of the day, and hopefully I would be able to lay my head down and sleep a few hours tonight. Insomnia and I were long time good friends.
I'm sure that after so many years as a medical student resident and going two days straight without sleep, my body adjusted to require less sleep, and now that I don't have to run on that schedule, I've tried and tried to retune my body to sleep more hours, but it constantly fights and refuses me. That's another reason why my library was the first room to be unpacked when I arrived in Boston. I spend many hours with my nose buried in either my laptop or a paperback book.
I picked out my most comfortable set of pajamas and changed with a quick slip of cloth and silk, then I crawled into my turned down bed. I fluffed the pillows and laid back, cracking open my book and slipping on my glasses with the ease of a practiced routine. Releasing a sigh, I glanced at the cover once more, then began to read the first page.
After reading a few paragraphs, I quickly became immersed in the voice of the character-a woman of the West, kicked out of her family for her manly ways and left to fend for herself. She befriended another woman, also out on her own, and the pair teamed up to survive, figuring two women were less likely to get accosted by the locals then a lone woman with not a man in sight. The dialogue between the characters led me to start to believe there was more than just a deep friendship merging the two women together. And by page one-hundred, I learned of the lead character's feelings of love for her companion, and her constant comparisons of her feelings to the changing seasons.
Shortly after my discovery, my eyes started to droop. With a sigh, I set down my book and slipped further beneath the soft covers. I clapped out the light then turned onto my side and stared at the wall until sleep took me under. I imagined what it would be like to have a companion in bed with me, someone like the cowgirl in my story. I let my heavy eyelids droop once again as I thought of Jane Rizzoli in a cowboy hat and leather chaps. With a smile on my lips, I fell asleep.
The alarm buzzed far too early the next day, rousing me from dreams of horses, campfires, and making love in a tent to a brown-eyed woman. I slapped off the alarm with a groan, and wasn't surprised by the slick warmth coating my upper thighs as I rolled back over onto my side. I laid in my bed until the snooze alarm beeped exactly seven minutes later.
With a groan, I tossed back the covers and climbed out of my soft bed. I gathered my clothes for the day and stepped into my master bathroom, complete with Jacuzzi tub and a set of three shower heads. Flipping on the radio as I walked by, I set my clothes on the specified rack, then stripped out of my pajamas. Using voice command, I set the shower water temperature at one-fifteen Fahrenheit, then stepped under the triple spray with a weary sigh.
The water felt so good as it cascaded down my neck and back, warming and loosening my muscles that knotted while I slept curled up tight. I smiled as I used my Gardenia scented soap to shave my legs, and thought about Jane Rizzoli. I would see her today at work. A gut feeling told me that I could be sure of it. Rinsing off the soap, I thought about how I would fix my hair. I wasn't even sure if she would notice my hair.
Had she noticed it yesterday? Probably not!
I dried and dressed quickly, deciding that whether or not Jane noticed my hair didn't really matter because she's my colleague and will probably compliment me just to be nice. I didn't want to be late because I abhorred tardiness. I checked on Bass to make sure he was fed and watered, then packed up my briefcase quickly. "Don't glance at your watch, Maura. Time doesn't matter today," I muttered as I tossed in a few extra pens. I'm always losing my pens.
While slipping on my heels, I ran through my daily schedule. I have an autopsy scheduled for early afternoon, but nothing but paperwork until then. So my morning was essentially free until thirteen hundred hours. As I stood from making my bed covers folded just as they were before I slipped under them, a thought occurred to me.
"I'll ask Jane to go for coffee again, and I know she likes that shop not far from the station," I muttered as I locked up my house, and eased into my Mercedes. My bright green eyes met my own in the rearview mirror. I saw doubt in my normally confident eyes.
"Why would she want to spend time with you again?" I asked my car as I backed out of my garage, flicking the close switch on the flip down visor, then changing gears to drive up the street toward the station. My reflection in my side window haunted me, almost telling me to quit being scared of myself. Jane asked me to go to dinner with her didn't she?
"Yes, she did and she seemed to enjoy my company. Quit being a ninny and ask her." With a nod at my reflection, I drove the rest of the way to the station in silence.
Chapter Three:
Slipping my keys into my purse as I mounted the step to the station, I muttered under my breath, "ask her for coffee. You can do it Maura." My head was down, watching where I placed my feet instead of where I was going.
As I kept my pace up the stairs, two long legs entered my field of vision. I recognized those boots immediately. My head snapped up. "Jane."
"Well, if it isn't Maura Isles." Her smiling brown eyes met my surprised gaze. "Fancy meeting you here. So what's a nice lady like you, doing in a place like this?" she asked coyly.
I hadn't planned on running into her unexpectedly, but I immediately saw the pleasure my presence brought her in the warm of her eyes as they stared at me. I had stopped walking up the stairs, and stood midway to the top. Jane stood one step above me, her lips smiling down at me.
My chest tightened as I forgot to breathe under the scrutinizing gaze of her beautiful eyes. I at once thought of my dream of this woman as a gunfighter, standing proud and protecting the innocent. The sunlight glittered off her dark hair and glistening lips.
Oh how I wanted to just a taste of her sweet mouth.
I coughed to regain my voice. "Hello, Jane. I'm on way into work." I stepped up the step so we stood on the same one. "Am I to assume you are also?"
"What the hell else would I be doing here other than being paid to be here?"
"You could be here doing any number of errands." I stepped up another step so I stood taller, and our eyes met at an equal level.
"I'm not." We stood staring at one another in the early morning light.
"Excuse me," a deep male voice said from behind Jane. She turned on her heel, giving me a view of the man behind her. He appeared to be my height, with hair cut very short and wore a white dress shirt with black tie clipped down.
"Yes, excuse you Masson." she husked then snorted, gesturing with her hand at the rest of the stairs left unoccupied. "Like you couldn't step around us?"
I looked at him as he looked at Jane. There was something more than annoyance in his gaze, but I couldn't identify the emotion based on his tightening facial features. "It's okay Jane. I need to get down to the morgue anyways. We can talk later." I turned on my heel and took a step.
A strong hand clasped onto my elbow, preventing my escape. I gazed down into uplifted brown eyes and froze at the brilliance of the smile she flashed at me. "No wait." Her smile dropped as she turned and stared down at Masson. "Step around. The Doc and me are having a conversation."
"Whatever you say Rrrizzzoli," he hissed as he stepped up and around Jane, not glancing back at us as he continued up the stairs and into the station.
"Don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way in… jerk," Jane muttered as she stared after Masson.
I noticed the furrowing of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows. There had to be a story behind that look marring her beautiful features. A gurgling noise echoed loudly. Then again. I looked down at my stomach then to Jane's. Her head whipped around and stared at her stomach.
She blushed and shrugged, obviously aware the noise was her stomach making its emptiness known again. "I missed breakfast."
I couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled out of my throat. "Jane, I'm beginning to think you never eat, contrary to the many wrappers in your squad car. Which you told me belonged to your partner."
"Yeah well, it takes time and money to eat, both of which I lack." She released my elbow, but kept her arm close beside mine. Warmth seemed to radiate off her body and I wanted nothing more than to curl up against her, but I decided that might look weird. So instead I stood frozen in place.
I smelled her perfume as she stood close, the spice of the scent lingering in my nostrils well after I inhaled deeply. "I owe you a meal to pay you back for that lovely meal we had yesterday."
She grinned. "Are you being sarcastic? Because you don't look like the sarcastic type." She nodded her chin toward the door, then started walking up the few remaining stairs, heading at a sauntering pace toward the double doors.
Glancing down at her long legs, I pictured them covered in leather chaps with spurs jingling as she walked. I imagined a cowboy of the Wild West would walk with the same gait as Jane-confident and imposing. I followed her into the station and over toward the elevator.
"How can you tell whether or not I'm sarcastic? You don't even know me." I wasn't sure if I was offended by how well my new friend seemed to see right through me, or insanely flattered she took the time to either listen to the gossip about the station and then made her own assessment of me.
"Oh, but I do know you Maura Isles. Probably more than you think I do. And most importantly, I know that you secretly like hushpuppies, and I also know how you take your coffee." She lifted her mouth into a smile as she watched me.
"Ha. Good one Detective." I matched her smile with one of my own as she punched the button for the elevator then leaned against the wall in a casual pose of indifference. Under the guise of checking my nails, I looked more closely at her waist and hips, finding the slim curves seductive and beautiful.
"Errrmmph," she cleared her throat.
I blushed as I glanced up from my 'nails' and met her amused eyes, the brown deeper than before, pupils wide and her lids remained unblinking as she stared at me. "See something fascinating Doctor?" she burred as the elevator doors dinged open and she sidestepped into the car, her long arm extending to prevent the door from closing and leaving me standing stupidly in the hallway, alone.
"I do, yes. You have perfectly proportioned hips. Your Iliac crests are exactly the right size for your abdominal cavity. I've never seen such perfect hips on a female before." I stared at her stomach with what I hoped was a fascinating expression and not a lustful one.
She coughed softly. "Er kay. So…are you going up to Homicide," her finger lingered over the button, "or down to the morgue." Then, her slim finger fell down to hover over the LL button, where the morgue is located.
"Going up," I muttered. Keeping my head down, I stared at the tiles on the floor, avoiding her gaze should it flash over in my direction. "I need to speak with Detective Frost. He has some papers I need over the victim I autopsied yesterday."
"Uh, actually I have those. Frost went home sick last night apparently," she snorted as she rolled her eyes.
"Maybe you should bring him some chicken soup. It's suppose to ease stomach ailments," I looked up and watched her, unable to look away now that I wasn't the subject of conversation.
"I'll send him a case of Campbell's." The elevator doors dinged open. "So, Doc. Breakfast? Lunch? Coffee? All three? I'd eat a whole cow right now if it supplied some milk before I started chewing on it."
She walked with her sauntering gait over to a desk and picked up a folder, turning toward me then holding it out. She shook her hand and nodded at me. "That file you wanted."
"Oh," I gasped, clearly surprised by her ease with which she found it. "Usually it takes Frost a whole hour to locate any file I need from him, so I allott the proper time." I took the file, watching Jane organize the files on her desk in an almost OCD manner, then I tucked the file under my arm to keep it safe.
She finished her organizing, nodded then turned to look at me. "Well, what can I say? Frost is a slob of the highest order."
I smiled at her sarcastic but affectionate tone. "If I remember correctly, it was you that had tarter sauce all over your chin last night."
"Were you staring at my chin too?"
"It was hard to avoid with the splotches of sauce hanging off. You're just lucky nobody saw you and I gathered plenty of napkins in advance."
"Hmm. If you say so." She walked over to stand right in front of me, her eyes dancing with amusement.
"What did you want to eat?" I asked. She took my arm and tugged me toward the elevator, excited for eating apparently. I tried hard not to snort and laugh loudly at her enthusiasm.
"Pancakes."
"Of course you do. And I'm sure you're going to want lots of…hmm…maple syrup?" I commented.
She tugged me into the elevator and grinned at me, her smile beaming and full of white teeth. "Is there any other way to eat pancakes?"
"I wouldn't know. I've only had crepes before."
"You eat creeps? Geez, Doc. That's no way to start the day. Just follow my lead, and you'll never eat better."
"Says the woman who took me to eat hushpuppies last night." Silence met my statement.
I didn't want to offend my new friend, so I leaned in close to her and said, "I'll be sure to get plenty of napkins," I whispered into her ear.
"Where we're going, they have bibs," she whispered back.
Our eyes met.
The elevator filled with the sound of our loud laughter for the rest of the ride down to the ground level.
Under the guise of asking for direction to the restaurant, I watched Jane out of the corner of my eye. On our way out of the station, I offered to drive as visions of purple contusions on my collarbone and the skin between my breasts danced through my mind. Under the guise of asking for direction to the restaurant, I watched Jane out of the corner of my eye.
Jane laughed and nodded her head in agreement.
As a last attempt to avoid the syrupy mess that my new friend will make of her outfit, I asked, "Jane, are you sure you want pancakes?"
She turned her head to look down at me. I stepped down, looking up into her dark eyes, and missed the step. I barely had time to realize I was no longer upright, before the ground started coming toward me. Then soft, strong arms wrapped around my hips, pulling me away from the concrete before my face landed on it roughly.
"Whoa there. Careful Doc, you're going to need your own medical kit if you're not more careful," Jane softly whispered, holding me close to her until I regained my balance.
I inhaled her scent, and soaked up her warmth. "I'm fine Jane." I expected her arms to release me after I straightened my dress, but they remained wrapped tightly around my hips, and the warmth from her arm seeped through the fabric of my shirt.
"I know you are. I bet you'd say you were fine if a bus just ran over your dog."
"I don't have a dog."
"Oh, I do. Yep, her name is Joe Friday, ya know like the tv character."
I laughed at her expression because she seemed so proud of her chosen pet name. "You named your dog a male name." I grinned at her, then to keep from babbling as she smiled back me, her beautiful lips curving at the corners, I said, "she's going to get a complex."
"Naw, she likes it. I think she feels more important when I call her Jo instead of Fluffy, which is the name my mother wanted to give her." The smile dropped from her face, and she cringed and shivered, then stared out the window, turning her mouth away. I silently mourned the loss. I was quickly learning that my new friend rapidly changed emotions and I was going to have to enjoy each one as it came. And I knew that she would turn back around as she spoke.
After a few seconds of staring at her reflection, she sighed and turned back to look at me, her mouth in a slight frown. "Who names their dog Fluffy? What am I? One of those crazy teen stars that dresses their little Chihuaha up in a pink sweater and a spiked collar, regardless of the dogs gender, then trying to make said pet look fierce but ending up looking like a mini furry, cross-dresser." She sucked in a breath between her teeth and eased back in the seat, her face taking on a less tense expression.
I watched her out of the corner of my eye as I drove, accurately dividing my attention between the road and my new friend. "You seem very passionate about your dog. That's a wonderful thing. I was merely trying to be funny, and it must not have been as humorous to you as it was when I thought it. I'm sorry."
"NO. Maura… don't apologize for my.." she waved her hand in a circle to visually display her point. "Whatever that was. Frustration releasing I suppose. I watch a lot of sports and television." I stared at her, then back at the road, then back to Jane.
"You don't have to defend yourself to me. Really." I nodded my chin, waiting for her to continue. She nodded back as I smiled at her again.
"Okay, I'm a tv junkie. I admit it. And I see these commercials with women, all trussed up and carrying their dog in their purse like it's an accessory. Drives me bonkers. It's a dog, ya know? You feed it, walk it, play with it. You just don't add it to your outfit like a belt and matching shoes."
I stopped at one of the many stoplights that decorated the downtown area, and mumbled as I thought of my matching purse lying in the backseat. "I know. Fashion is… a demanding concept for some people. And they do things they probably shouldn't morally all for the sake of acceptance." I made a point of glancing down at Jane's trouser legs, standard black belt and button down man's oxford shirt. "Some women value opinions more than others."
"Hey! I value opinions just as much as the next lady. I'm just more practical in my wardrobe choices. I wear what I wear because I like it, and it suits me. Okay."
I pulled into the parking lot of the breakfast joint and turned to stare directly into her eyes, making sure that I had her full attention for what I needed to say. I sensed a deep discomfort with the subject of her clothes and I wanted nothing more than to show her that I was very okay with her appearance even though I knew very little of her home life as a child.
I said in my strongest voice, "I am not judging you. I'm merely proving a point. Please, don't take offense. It's really not what I meant." I grabbed her arm, squeezing right above her slim wrist. I rubbed the underside of her arm with my thumb to soothe her, and also because her skin felt so soft.
"Good. I don't like people judging me by my appearance. That also drives me nuts. But, I realize that it's a fact of life and out of my control." She shifted in her seat so that we were not only looking at each other directly, but also so that our torsos were facing each other. She leaned closer to me, her hand sliding from under my grip and taking my hand in a gentle clasp. A very friendly clasp indeed.
I released a soft gasp before I could stop it, as her warm breath caressed my lips. I leaned in as well. The air inside the car practically sizzled with the energy between us. From my vantage point, leaning so close to Jane, I took note of the dark pupils and the flushed cheeks. I sensed that she felt what I felt when our eyes first met in the coffee shop yesterday.
But would she act on it?
"You look beautiful, Jane. Regardless of what people think about your clothes." I leaned closer and whispered, "they mean very little when one considers what lies beneath."
Her fingers squeezed my hand tighter, our palms starting to sweat they clasped so tightly. We stayed locked in place, too afraid to move closer and probably not quite ready to move away yet. I said to myself in the car that I wanted more with this woman, but I was new to the area and didn't want to label myself as different for being seriously attracted to this gorgeous woman, whom I just met and would have to work with everyday of the near future.
It would have to be her move.
A car next to us honked. Jane jerked, but didn't move completely away, she put a few more inches distance between our lips than there were just a moment ago. "I'm sorry, Maura. Uhm, for letting my frustrations spew out. I gotta learn to keep it under wraps better I guess. You look so put together and I feel scruffy next to you."
"Believe me when I say this, Jane Rizzoli, you are anything but scruffy." I winked at her and released my clasp on her hand, letting her choose to stay or to go.
She squeezed my hand, looked me in the eyes, and then let go.